Air movers include a rotor and a stator. Generally, a shaft of the rotor extends through the stator and the rotor rotates about the stator. The shaft includes a groove at its base that receives a rigid retainer ring, C clamp, or the like so that the rigid retainer ring holds the shaft within the stator. The rigidity of the rigid retainer ring substantially holds the shaft axially in place, however, due to tolerance constraints of the rigid retainer ring, the shaft, and/or other components of the system, the shaft may axially move and contact one or more other components of the air mover such as the housing, causing noise and/or vibrations. Additionally, natural vibrations in the system during operation may be transferred through the shaft to the rotor or vice versa so that noise is created. The vibrations, noise, harshness, or a combination thereof caused by the axial movement of the shaft and/or transfer of vibrations may be heard and/or felt by an occupant, a user, or both. These vibrations, noise, or both may be undesirable to the user and may generate customer complaints, warranty claims, or both. Examples of retainer rings are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,773,828; 6,509,704; 7,659,648 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0114512, the contents of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes.
Air movers include printed circuit boards that include circuitry for controlling the air mover. The circuitry, typically, is distributed about the printed circuit boards so that the circuitry controls one or more operations of the air mover, the distribution of the of the circuitry about the printed circuit board may result in less than optimal operation of the air mover and/or slow performance of the air mover during changes. The circuitry of the printed circuit boards, during operation, emits radiation (e.g., electromagnetic waves) and the emitted radiation may interfere with the operation of adjacent components, may affect performance of the blower, or both. Examples of circuitry of fans are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,773,828; 6,509,704; 7,659,648 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2012/0114512 all of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes.
Air movers include a shaft that is connected to an impeller and/or cup. The impeller and/or cup house magnets that rotate the impeller during use. During manufacture of the air mover the shaft and impeller and/or cup are typically connected together. For example, the cup and shaft may be located relative to each other and an overmold may be applied that forms the impeller and connects the shaft and the cup. However, if the shaft and cup are not precisely aligned the impeller may vibrate, wobble, or both. Attempts have also been made to directly connect the cup to the shaft. Examples of connections of the shaft and cup and/or impeller are found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,547 and German Patent No. DE3519536 both of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein in their entirety for all purposes.
What is needed is an air mover that includes a compliant member that dampens axial movement of the shaft. What is needed is a compliant member connected to a shaft that prevents and/or eliminates noise, vibration, and harshness related to movement of the rotor. What is needed is an improved circuitry configuration that improves performance of the air mover. It would be desirable to have a circuitry configuration that reduces radiation such as electromagnetic waves generated by the air mover.